Safe



Sept. 3, 1929. El LEVER 1,726,845

SAFE

Filed April l. 1927 Patented Sept. 3, 1929.

UbllTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EUGENE H. LEVER, 0F ST. LOUIS, MSSOURI; TILLIE LEVER EXECUTE-IX OF SAID EUGENE H. LEVER, DEGEASED.

SAFE.

Application led April 1,

My invent-ion relates to safes and more particularly to safes adapted to have valuable articles deposited therein temporarily.

iileretoiiore in banks, jewelry stores and other places ot business where valuable articles are kept the articles are usually deposited in a large sate when the place ot business closed and are moved to a more convenient and more accessible part of the ofiice when the pla-ce of business is opened. ln a bank the money in coins and bills at the start oi'i a business day is placed in the tellers cages. ln stores where valuable articles such gold and silver ware, precious stones and the like are handled and sold the articles are removed from the sate at the start of the day and placed in display trays in counters. It the bank or store is robbed during the course of a business day the robbers have easy access to the money in the tellers cages in the bank or the valuable articles in the display trays in the counters of the store.

The objects of my invention are to provide a sate having the top thereof arranged to serve as a convenient receptacle for valuable articles during business hours; to provide a sate constructed and arranged so that valuable articles may be quickly and easily introduced into said safe from said receptacle without the necessity of manually moving said articles from the receptacle into the sate; and to provide a safe which has an auxiliary entrance, the closure for which is controlled by means remote from said safe whereby the closure may be opened to permitthe automatic introduction of valuable articles into the safe; and to provide means :tor automatically closing the closure after the articles have thus been introduced.

(lne embodiment of my invention is fully shown in the accompanying drawings wherein similar characters are used to designate similar parts: Fig. 1 is a top View of the sate; Fig. 2 is a 'front elevation thereof Fig. 3 is a side elevation partly in section; and Fig. 4 shows a detail ot construction.

Referring to the figures the sate shown therein is adapted to be used in a bank tellers cage and is the same height as the usual counters on which money is placed in such a cage. While, of course, the safe must beof substantial construction it need not be as massive as the vault or large sate in which the articles are placed over night since this safe is adapted primarily for temporary de- 1927. Serial No. 180,241.

posit only of the articles. The top of the salte is open as at 3 and as explained below serves as an auxiliary entrance to the safe. Extending transversely across this open top are a plurality ot bars 4 in this torni of my device integral with the body of the sate and which denne a plurality of rectangular openings extending transversely across said safe and adapted for the introduction therethrough ot articles into the sate. These bars, or course, may be formed in any convenient way or shape and attached to the safe in the desired position. The spaces between the bars 4 and the depth of the sare are such as to make it substantially impossible for one to insert his hand into the sate and remove therefrom money or other valuable ar ticles introduced thereinto. The receptacle tor articles ot value, which in this case will be money, comprises a superstructure formed by the upwardly extending back panel 5, the end panels 6 and the intermediate panels 7 which extend along the bars 4, as shown in the figures, to divide the space at the top of the safe into a plurality of compartments each adapted to contain money. The movable plate 8 is mounted and adapted to be held in a substantially horizontal position to form the top wall of the sate and the bottom of the receptacle and is mouted by the hinge 9 on the front wall of the safe near the top thereof and above the primary entrance. The plate 8 preferably extends under the flanges 10 which extend inwardly from the front and back walls of the sate and which have the upper surfaces thereof inclining inwardly and downwardly, as shown. The plate 8 is held in a horizontal plane just below the lower sides of the bars 4 by a locking means of any suitable type and which may be as shown in Fig. 4. The locking means shown comprises a bolt 11 around which is placed a solenoid 12. The rear end of the bolt 11 has the head 13 formed thereon and a spring 14 is arranged to work against this head to normally move the bolt to engage the edge ot the plate 8 as shown. The lead wires 15 of the solenoid are connected to a button switch 16 which controls the flow of electricity from a suitable source ot supply, indicated at 37, through the solenoid. Vhen the switch 16 is moved into contact, electricity passes through the solenoid and energizes it so that the bolt 11 is drawn rearwardly thereby releasing the top plate 8 and allowing it to be moved downwardly under the influence of its weight and the weight of articles placed thereon in the receptacle on top of the safe into the position indicated by the broken lines in Fig. 3. I prefer that the inner surface of the front wall of the safe be arranged with the beveled shoulder 17 to limit the downward movement of the top plate 8.

An end panel 6 is, preferably, of substantial width and in this form of my device is hollow to accommodate part of the means which automatically returns the plate 8 to horizontal position after it has moved downwardly and has introduced the articles into the safe. In this returning means in the form shown, a disk 18 which is loosely mounted on the shaft 19 has a circumferentially extending` groove 2O in its outer periphery and also has a sprocket wheel 21 arranged on the inner face thereof. A chain 22 passes through the aperture 23 at an edge of the plate 8 and has an enlargement 24 on the end thereof below the plate. The part of the chain above the plate is positioned over and in mesh with the teeth of the sprocket wheel and the end opposite the end having the enlargement 2a is attached tothe weight 25. This weight is arranged to move up and down in a shell 26 which has about midway between its top and bottom a sliding gate 27 normally held in position across the interior of the shell by the spring 28. The outer end of the gate 27 is mounted on one end of the rocker arm 29 which is' pivoted at its middle on the bracket 30 and which is inovably attached at its other end to the bell crank 31 carried by the clamp 32. The free end of the bell crank 31 has a projecting lug33 which extends for a short dis tance horizontally outward at substantially right angles to the plane of movement of the bell crank. When the disk 18 and in turn the sprocket wheel 21 is rotated in a directionreverse to that indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3 the chain will be moved to lower thel enlargement 24; and to raise the weight 25 until the lower end thereof is above the gate 27 and then the spring 28 will move the gate to prevent the weight from dropping and-to thereby set the means for returning the plate 8 to horizontal position. Any convenient way may be utilized to rotate the disk 18 to set the returning means but preferably this rotation is automatically accomplished when the door 1 is opened by the cable 34 which is attached at one of its ends to the door 1 and which passes through a suitably positioned eye 35 and pulleys 36 and is then laid in the groove 2O in the disk 18 and the other end is fastened to the periphery of the disk. l/Vhen the door 1 is opened the cable is moved to rotate the disk and set the returning means. The panel 6 may have a removable side plate 39 whereby access to the mechanism may be had. Also it is preferable that the parts of the returning mechanism which are below the top of the safe be separated from the interior of the safe Yby the partition 40.

As heretofore set forth, the money in the tellers cage or other place where the safe is used is placed in the compartments formed in the receptacle at the top of the safe and on the upper surface of the top .plate 8 which is exposed between the bars t and which forms the bottom of the compartn'ients, as slipwn in Fig. 1. 1f an attempt is made to rob the bank the switch 16 is operated to energize the solenoid, thereby releasing the bolt 11 and allowing the plate 8 to be moved downwardly, as described. When the plate moves downwardly all of the money in the compartment-s at the top of the safe will be introduced automatically into the safe. A number of switches 16 each controlling the locking means for the plate 8 may be distributed about the bank at various easily accessible points so that if the teller cannot reach the switch 16 in his cage some other person in the bank seeing the holdup can operate a near by switch and release the locking means to introduce the money into the safe. However, in any event, I prefer that a switch 16 be placed at a point remote from the safe so that it is not necessary to approach the safe to release the locking means. When the plate 8 swings downwardly it ordinarily would create a. coinpression of the air in front of it as it moves and would create a suction behind it. The result of this condition of the air might prevent loose bills from falling into the safe and to ob'viate this the plate 8 is preferably provided with the `perforations 38. Air passing through these perforations will tend to carry any loose bills clear ofthe plate.

`Whilethe safe is being used the automatic returning mechanismfor the plate is always set and as the plate swings downwardly to introduce the money or other valuable articles into the safe the plate willstrike against the lug thereby moving the bell crank and rocker arm to slide the gate 27 outwardly to release the weight 25 and allow it to fall in the shell 26. l/Vhen the weight falls it moves the sprocket ywheel 21 in the direction indicated by the arrow in `l" ig. 3 and the enlargement 24 is moved into engagement with the lower side of the plate 8 marginal to the aperture 28 and when the chain continues to move the enlargement carries the plate upwardly until the free edge of the plate is against the flange 10, and the bolt 11 of the locking means and the weight 25 prevents the plate 8 from being moved downwardly again.

Even ifthe plate is brokenby a sledge hammer or any other'way it will be impossible for the robber to reach down into the safe and remove the money because of the depth of the safe and because of the bars 4. To remove the money from the safe after it has been introduced therein it is necessary to open the primary entrance, as set forth above. To open the primary entrance it is necessary to set the time lock by turning the key 2 and then after the lapse of a predetermined period of time the bolt will be drawn, as described above, and the door l may be opened.

I prefer that the source of supply of electricity for energizing the solenoid be a battery 37 which may be positioned in the safe because if the regular light current is relied on the robbers might before attempting the robbery cut the wires leading into the building and thereby prevent the safe from operating as described. In order to avoid confusion only one bolt l1 has been shown but any number of locking means may be provided and, of course, it is preferable that they be arranged so that all will be simultaneously released by one control means. Also, if the plate 8 is large and heavy it may be necessary to provide a returning means at each end thereof.

lt may be readily understood that while this embodiment is intended, as hereinbefore stated, to be especially adapted for use in the tellers7 cages in banks, my invention may be readily adapted for use in other establishments where articles of value are handled and the details of construction and arrangement of the parts of the safe may, of course, be varied to suit the requirements of these different adaptations without deviating from the spirit of my invention as embodied in the claims below.

What l desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A safe having an open top, a plurality of spaced bars extending across said top to define a plurality of openings for the introduction of articles into said safe, a movable plate adapted to be normally held in a substantiall horizontal position to prevent the introduction of articles through said openings, means for locking said plate in said position, means for releasing said locking means, and said plate being arranged and mounted whereby when said locking means is released said plate will move to cause articles placed on the top of said safe 'to be introduced t-hereinto through said opening.

2. The combination with a safe of a receptacle for valuable articles, a movable plate adapted to be held in a position to form the bottom of said receptacle, means for locking said plate in said position, control means for releasing said locking means, said plate being arranged and mounted whereby when said locking means is released said plate will move to introduce the contents of said receptacle into said safe, and means released by the movement of said plate to return said plate to said position after said articles have been introduced into said safe. l

3. A safe having an open top, a plurality of spaced bars extending across said open top to define a plurality of openings, a movable plate adapted to be held in a position to close said openings and to form the top wall of said safe, locking means for holding said plate in said position and control means for releasing said locking means.

A safe having anopen top, a plurality of spaced bars extending transversely across said top to define a plurality of openings, a movable plate adapted to be normally held in a` position to close said openings, portions of the upper surface of said plate being exposed through said openings, means for locking said plate in said position, and control mea-ns remote from said safe for releasing said locking means to allow said plate under the influence of its weight and the weight of articles placed thereon to 'swing downwardly to introduce said articles into said safe.

5. A safe having a primary entrance, a lock for said primary entrance, an auxiliary entrance at the top of said safe, a plurality of spaced bars extending transversely across said auxiliary entrance, a movable plate adapted to be normally held in a position to close said auxiliary entrance, means for locking said plate in said position, and electrical control means operable by a switch remote from said safe for releasing said looking means.

6. A safe having a primary entrance, an auxiliary entrance at the top of said safe, a plurality of spaced bars extending transversely across said auxiliary entrance to divide it into a plurality of openings extending transversely of said safe, flanges extending inwardly from the front and back walls of said safe at the ends of said openings and said flanges having their upper surfaces inclined inwardly and downwardly, a receptacle for valuable articles placed above said auxiliary entrance, a movable plate hinged on the front wall of said safe and adapted to be normally held in a substantially horizontal position below said bars to form the bottom of said receptacle, means for locking said plate in said position, electrical control means operable by a switch remote from said safe for releasing said locking means, said plate being mounted and arranged whereby when said control means is released said plate will move to introduce into said safe valuable articles placed in said receptacle, and means set in motion by the movement of said plate to return said plate tosaid horizontal position.

llO

7. The combination with a safe of a receptacle for valuable articles, a movable perforated plate adapted to be held in a position to form the bottom of said receptacle, means for looking said plate in said position, ymeans for releasing said locking means, and said safe and said receptacle being constructed and arranged whereby when said locking means is released said plate will move to introduce the contents of said receptacle into said safe.

8. A safehaving an opening` at the top 'thereof for the introduction of articles thereinto, a movable plate adapted tol be held in a position to prevent the introduc- 'tion of articles through said opening, a lock to hold said plate in said position7 means for releasing said lock to allow said plate to be moved from said position, means for returning said plate to said position after movement therefrom, and means actuated by the movement of said plate to allow said returning means to operate.

9. A safe having an opening at the top thereof for the introduction 0f articles thereinto, a movable plate adapted to be held in a. position to prevent the introduction of articles through said opening, means lfor locking said plate in said position, means for releasing said locking means, said plate being arranged and mounted whereby when said locking means is released said plate will move to allow articles to be introduced into said safe through said opening, and positively acting meansfor automatically returning said plate to said position after said articles have been introduced into said safe, said plate being normally free to move without resist-ance from said returning means and said means being arranged to eXert force to move said plate into or hold said plate in said posit-ion only after said locking means is released and said plate has moved to introduce said articles into said safe.

In witness whereof I have signed my name to the foregoing specication.

EUGENE H. LEVER. 

